An enquiry from a U3A group, and a blank spreadsheet
The travel secretary of a U3A group emails: could you run a private version of your Umbria tour for about twenty-five members next May, perhaps with an extra day in Assisi? It is a good enquiry. Your product manager opens the original tour costing, checks whether the hotels have rates for May, emails the coach company for a quote, works out a guide fee for the extra day, adds a margin, and builds a proposal in Word with a day-by-day itinerary and prices at twenty, twenty-five and thirty passengers.
It takes the best part of two days, fitted around everything else. By the time the proposal goes out, the group secretary mentions they have had two other quotes already and are meeting next week to decide.
Every quote starts from nothing because the parts are not reusable
You already have most of what a private quote needs. Your tours are made of days, hotels, guides and activities you have run before, with rates in contracts. But they live in costing spreadsheets per tour and in Word itineraries, so a new combination means copying and recalculating by hand.
- Tour days and their costs are locked inside each tour's spreadsheet.
- Hotel rates for a new date have to be looked up in contracts.
- Coach and guide costs are fixed, so the per-head price depends on group size and is recalculated each time.
- Proposal documents are built in Word from pieces of old itineraries.
- Nobody tracks which quotes are open, followed up or won.
Slow quotes lose groups to faster operators
Groups that ask for private tours usually ask more than one operator. The operator who replies first with a clear, well presented proposal is often the one the committee discusses. A quote that takes days also takes your most experienced person away from other work, and because it is so much effort, some enquiries are quietly declined or given a rough figure that turns out wrong.
Without tracking, you also lose the chance to follow up at the right time or learn which kinds of private groups you win.
A quote builder from your own components
We build a private tour quote builder around the parts you already sell.
- Your existing tours are broken into reusable days: route, hotel options, included meals, guides and activities, each with its descriptive text and its cost basis.
- Contracted rates are held by supplier and date band, so a quote for a given month picks up the right hotel rates, with a flag where a rate is not yet agreed for that season.
- The quote screen lets you start from an existing tour, add, remove or swap days, and choose dates. Fixed costs (coach, guide, tour leader) and per-head costs are kept separate.
- Prices are calculated at several group sizes at once, with your margin rules applied, and single supplements calculated from the hotels chosen.
- Items that need a fresh supplier quote, such as a coach for new dates, are listed as open and requests are sent from templates, so the proposal can go out marked provisional where necessary.
- A proposal document is produced in your branding with the day-by-day itinerary, pictures from your library, prices by group size and what is included.
- Each quote has a status and a follow-up date, and won quotes can be turned into a departure in your booking system.
| Quote step | Before | With the builder |
|---|---|---|
| Build the itinerary | Copy from old Word files | Pick and adjust tour days |
| Find the rates | Open contracts | Held by date band |
| Price by group size | Recalculate by hand | Several sizes at once |
| Produce the proposal | Format in Word | Generated in your branding |
| Follow up | If someone remembers | Follow-up date and status |
Quoting the same enquiry with the builder
The product manager starts from the standard Umbria tour, adds a day in Assisi from the library of days, picks May dates, and sees prices at twenty, twenty-five and thirty passengers. The coach is flagged as needing a fresh quote, and the request goes out. The proposal is sent the same day, marked provisional on transport, and firmed up when the coach company replies.
A week later the builder reminds the office to follow up. If the group books, the quote becomes a departure with its costing already in place, which feeds the allocation, rooming and document tools rather than being retyped.
Over time, the quote list shows which types of group enquire, which tours they ask for, and what share you win, which helps decide where to market private tours.
Is private tour quoting slowing you down?
- Each private tour quote is built from scratch in a spreadsheet.
- Only one or two people in the office can produce a quote.
- Groups have told you they booked elsewhere before your quote arrived.
- Proposal documents are assembled from old Word itineraries.
- You do not track open quotes or follow-ups.